Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun Decoration produced on pottery or ceramic by scratching through a surface of plaster or glazing to reveal a different color underneath.
  • noun Ware decorated in this manner.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Same as graffito decoration (which see, under graffito).
  • noun Same as graffito ware (which see, under graffito).
  • noun A kind of pottery made in England, in which clays of different colors are laid one upon another and the pattern is produced by cutting away the outer layers, as in cameos and cameo-glass.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • adjective (Paint.) Scratched; -- said of decorative painting of a certain style, in which a white overland surface is cut or scratched through, so as to form the design from a dark ground underneath.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A technique in ceramics, art and wall design, where the top layer of pigment or slip is scratched through to reveal an underlying layer.
  • verb To produce a design using this technique.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a ceramic or mural decoration made by scratching off a surface layer to reveal the ground

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Italian, past participle of sgraffire, to scratch, from sgraffio, a scratch, from sgraffiare, to scratch, from Old Italian : s-, intensive pref.; see sforzando + graffiare, to scratch; see graffito.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

Borrowed from the Italian, which derives from the Ancient Greek graphein, meaning "to write or scratch."

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Examples

  • The large plate you so greatly admired is called sgraffito or scratched work, sometimes called slip engraving.

    Mary at the Farm and Book of Recipes Compiled during Her Visit among the "Pennsylvania Germans" Edith Matilda Thomas 1889

  • Used in a technique called sgraffito, whereby a thin layer of Overlay paste is applied to the glazed porcelain or glass, allowed to dry, and a pointed instrument used to scratch a design into the layer, allowing t he porcelain or glass beneath to appear.

    Random headlines from Syndic8.com 2009

  • Used in a technique called sgraffito, whereby a thin layer of Overlay paste is applied to the glazed porcelain or glass, allowed to dry, and a pointed instrument used to scratch a design into the layer, allowing t he porcelain or glass beneath to appear.

    Random headlines from Syndic8.com 2009

  • Then the master made his sketch in white, or "sgraffito" (i.e. graven on the plaster), as in the architectural lines of the pictures of patron saints in the Uffizi, and the _Marriage of S. Catherine_ in the Pitti Palace; he also put in the shadows in monochrome.

    Fra Bartolommeo Leader Scott 1869

  • I believe the clay coated board is so that you can incise or abraid through the clay to expose a white surface for fine detail, like scratchboard or sgraffito.

    U of T Biomedical Communication James Gurney 2009

  • Latex and enamel paints, black ink wash, pen and black and red ink, sgraffito

    Gifts of Masterful Artwork 2009

  • His sgraffito style made him popular very quickly.

    Once, We Were So Poor . . . 2006

  • Many buildings date back to the 15th and 16th centuries and are painted with coats of arms or engraved with sgraffito designs.

    Meat of the Mountains 2008

  • His sgraffito style made him popular very quickly.

    Once, We Were So Poor . . . 2006

  • This group is characterized by simple sgraffito decoration of concentric circles under a bright yellow-brown glaze and takes the forms of cups, plates, and bowls, all supported on a raised foot.

    Interactive Dig Black Sea: Catalog of Artifacts 2006

Comments

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  • It’s boring to be incognito,

    Celebrity, though, gets my veto.

    Expose with great care

    The parts you will share;

    You should be a work of sgraffito.

    May 26, 2018